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PROFILE SOYBEANS AND

MARATHONS Tim Dufault’s favorite run is hard to beat

Tim Dufault farms in the Red River Valley near Crookston, Minnesota. He runs on and around his 1,800 acre wheat and soybean farm with his dog, a lab. He is a longtime MDRA member and a founding member of the Crookston Running Club.

BY DENNIS BARKER

How and when did you get into running?

Growing up I hated running. In high school we would have to run the 440 yard dash for gym. We knew nothing about pacing ourselves. So we would run as hard as we could for the first 220 yards and then stagger and gasp for air the last 220 yards. I didn’t go out for any teams. I didn’t think I could make any of them.

After I started farming there would be early spring days when I would get itchy and just had to get outside. So I would do some short runs of about one to two miles. This would last a couple weeks and then I gave up.

The spring I turned 40 years old I did this again. But this time it stuck. I remember running a mile and a half without stopping. I was pumped. I was really proud of myself. The running bug has stuck with me now for 19 years.

I’m not much of an athlete. I’m just a slow, middle aged, overweight dad. I don’t have a lot of stamina. But I make up for it by being slow. I have been told I have good running form though. Why when I get going, I’ll have all four cheeks and a couple of chins moving in unison.

What was your first race?

We have a local 5K and 10K. I signed up for it but was nervous because I didn’t know how it all worked. But after the race I started talking

TIM DUFAULT TAKES A SELFIE ALONG HIS FAVORITE RUNNING TRAIL ON HIS LAND NEAR CROOKSTON, MINNESOTA.

to other runners and I liked the social part of it. So we started a running club (The Crookston Running Club) and eventually took over the 5K and 10K. We run it now and raise money for the local schools, police, things like that. We get together once a month at a pizza place and talk about running and a lot of other things.

What are some of your favorite running memories?

Getting lost running is always fun. I was on a trip to Brazil once. We landed in Rio De Janeiro and had some free time that afternoon. I thought I would go for a run and stretch out

PROFILE my legs after a long flight. I had a nice run along the beach area. But on my way back all the hotels looked alike. My magnetic room key did not have the hotel’s name or address on it. I couldn’t remember the name of the hotel either. After back tracking a few times I eventually found the hotel. But a three mile run became a four mile run.

Another fun memory was a small town 5K a few years ago. At the start of the race the race director was explaining the course to everyone. When he said the water station and turn around point was in front of Steve’s house, I thought I was going to lose it. That’s a small town for you, everyone knows everyone.

In another small town 5K I won the 50-59 year old age group. I was the only one of that age.

One time running on an out of the way gravel road I came upon a badger just coming out of his hole. I think I broke Usain Bolt’s record in the 100 meter dash.

I ran Grandma’s Marathon when Al Franken was starting his campaign for the US Senate. Somewhere along the course, on a stretch of the highway with no people, was Al Franken shaking hands and cheering on runners. Going by and shaking his hand I remember a guy behind me tell his buddy, “That was cool. I’m not voting for him, but that was cool.” Later in the race as we got into Duluth, I rounded a street corner and there was Franken again. I shook his hand a second time and asked, “Didn’t I just see you back there a few miles?” He looked at me and with a perfect deadpanned expression said, “Yeah, it’s called a car!” I giggled the rest of the race.

How does your work and daily schedule impact your running?

Running and a farmer’s schedule has its pluses and minuses. In the busy times of the year, you just can’t run. Planting and harvest just take priority over everything. We just got done planting everything this May - 16 straight days of go go go. No time to run.

But other times of the year you can quit early and go run. I can run by my fields and check on their progress. More than once I have run in the fields pulling stray weeds or picking up a rock.

Running out in the country, you don’t have to put up with much traffic. If I don’t run on a highway, I can go on a four or five mile run and not see a person. Sometimes I see more tractors than cars.

There’s been a lot of news about soybeans lately. How are you doing?

The tariff/trade war has negatively affected our farm, just like every farm. Lost income and lost chances to sell our crop. Worrying about the tariffs gives me another reason to lace them up and go.

Farming can be a very stressful profession. Does running help deal with that stress?

Running is a great stress reliever. You can work out a lot of problems when you run. More than a few times my wife has told me, ‘You should go run.’ I know I must be in a crabby mood then.

How have you fit marathon training into the demands of the farm?

I have run six marathons. All spring marathons. In the winter I can base my work schedule around my training schedule. I would love to do the Twin Cities Marathon, but I don’t know where I would find the time to train. In the winter I do a lot of my running on the treadmill. I’d rather sweat than freeze. I have a lot of movies and Boston Marathons and other videos I watch. And we have a new ice arena in town. It has three ice sheets and a running/ walking track around it that is just under a quarter mile. It’s a little cold in there but after a lap I’m able to take off my mittens. It’s popular so there are a lot of people who I stop and talk with. That kind of breaks up my rhythm, but that’s okay. It’s small town life. ago. I had to take most of the year off from running. I started wearing orthotics and it hasn’t bothered me since. I want to get back up to the mileage I was doing before that. I want to run another marathon. My best time is 4:44. I’d love to break 4:30.

You live in a very flat area. Have you ever done a hill workout?

Our farm is on the eastern edge of the Red River Valley. About two miles from the farm the terrain rises out of the old Lake Agassiz lakebed. I can go in that direction to get some hill work outs. I don’t dislike hills as much as other runners. Maybe because I’m not fast.

What is a favorite run or workout?

Three quarters of a mile south of our farmyard is another piece of farmland we own. That quarter section of land has a creek running through it. A few years ago, I started mowing the prairie grass on both sides of the creek. I have my own private cross country course. I can run out to the creek, out and back around it and home again. Three and half miles total, and I’m only off my land when I cross the township gravel road. That is a favorite run.

How do you train for your marathons?

I use a Runner’s World training plan for slow, fat guys. You have to watch out with some of those plans. I’m not a Kenyan so some of those plans don’t fit me real well. But I like having a plan because you can’t cheat. If it says six miles or sixteen miles you have to stick to it. Sometimes I add a week or two to the plan on the front end because I know that I might miss some days later when planting starts. Twenty miles is the farthest I’ve run in training. Once you do that, you know you’re ready.

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